In July of 2015, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME)-the primary accrediting body for North American allopathic medical schools-formally advanced a model of "formative accreditation" by requiring that medical schools engage in "ongoing planning and continuous quality improvement processes that establish short and long-term programmatic goals, result in the achievement of measurable outcomes that are used to improve programmatic quality, and ensure effective monitoring of the medical education program's compliance with accreditation standards...

BACKGROUND: Limited data are available on the experiences of patients with autoinflammatory diseases (AIDs) and their families along the path to diagnosis and treatment. We sought to describe these experiences in patients with AIDs including tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated periodic syndrome (TRAPS), mevalonate kinase deficiency/hyperimmunoglobulin D syndrome (MKD/HIDS), and familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). METHODS: Ninety-minute, semi-structured qualitative interviews and 5-day written/video diaries were used to gather information on the experiences of patients with AIDs and their families...

CONTEXT: Simulated patients (SPs) are extensively used in the teaching of medical communication, both for students and doctors. They occupy a unique middle ground between patients and physicians: although free from the prejudices that medical training brings, they work closely with clinical tutors to promote the principles of patient-centred consulting. Despite this, there is relatively little research around their views on what makes for good communication practice. This study aims to address this gap in the literature through a qualitative analysis of SPs' opinions, especially in the context of medical student communication...

BACKGROUND: Despite the highly selective admission processes utilised by medical schools, a significant cohort of medical students still face academic difficulties and are at a higher risk of delayed graduation or outright dismissal. METHODS: This study used survival analysis to identify the non-academic and academic risk factors (and their relative risks) associated with academic difficulty at a regionally located medical school. Retrospective non-academic and academic entry data for all medical students who were enrolled at the time of the study (2009-2014) were collated and analysed...

CONTEXT: The function of medical school entities that determine student advancement or dismissal has gone largely unexplored. The decision making of 'academic progress' or student promotions committees is examined using a theoretical framework contrasting ethics of justice and care, with roots in the moral development work of theorists Kohlberg and Gilligan. OBJECTIVES: To ascertain promotions committee members' conceptualisation of the role of their committee, ethical orientations used in member decision making, and student characteristics most influential in that decision making...

In recent years, in European academic circles, there has been a trend to dismiss Gondeshapur as a myth perpetrated by the Bokhtishu family in early Islamic era, despite many historiographical attestations. The writings of Islamic historians such as Al-Qifti and Ibn Abi Usaibia have been discounted as exaggerations by non-contemporary historians, and the lack of primary Pahlavi sources blamed for historical hyperbole. In this essay, I have attempted to show through primary Syriac Christian texts, that there was both a medical school and a bimarestan in Gondeshapur in pre-Islamic Sassanid era, and that Galenic medical texts had been translated and taught in that institution...

In 2012 the United Kingdom's General Medical Council (GMC) commissioned research to develop guidance for medical schools on how best to support students with mental illness. One of the key findings from medical student focus groups in the study was students' strong belief that medical schools excluded students on mental health grounds. Students believed mental illness was a fitness to practice matter that led to eventual dismissal, although neither personal experience nor empirical evidence supported this belief...

Academic tenure, introduced by the American Association of University Professors in 1915, is a status that protects employed faculty members from summary dismissal and, thereby, intends to preserve their academic freedom. Initially tied to financial security through salary guarantees, academic tenure has evolved into a concept associated less with monetary support and strict scholarly productivity than at its inception, primarily owing to the growing number of clinician educators with highly competitive salaries at university-affiliated academic health centers...

This paper describes a user-friendly, Excel spreadsheet model and two data collection instruments constructed by the authors to help states and districts perform cost-benefit analyses of school nursing services delivered by full-time school nurses. Prior to applying the model, states or districts need to collect data using two forms: "Daily Nurse Data Collection Form" and the "Teacher Survey." The former is used to record daily nursing activities, including number of student health encounters, number of medications administered, number of student early dismissals, and number of medical procedures performed...

Physicians who are impaired, engage in unprofessional behavior, or violate laws may be barred from further practice. Likewise, medical students may be dismissed from medical school for many infractions, large and small. The welfare of patients and the general public must be our first priority, but when we assess physicians and students who have erred, we should seek to respond as caringly and fairly as possible. This piece will explore how we may do this at all stages of the proceedings physicians and students may encounter...

School nurses cite barriers to collecting comprehensive data on the care they provide. This study evaluated the feasibility of collecting school nurse data on selected child health and education outcomes. Outcome variables included school health office visits; health provider, parent, and staff communication; early dismissal; and medications administered. On an average day, the school nurses cared for 43.5 students, administered 14 medications, and averaged of 17 daily communications. Day 1 data collection times averaged 15 min or less...

UNLABELLED: Phenomenon: Transient health-related anxiety/hypochondriacal concerns in medical students are well documented. The literature suggests that after studying a particular disease, medical students are likely to consider any symptoms earlier regarded as normal to be signs of the disease they are studying. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of these phenomena and their cognitive and distress aspects among medicals students in Karachi, Pakistan. APPROACH: This was an analytical, cross-sectional study...

Claude Louis Sommé was born in Paris in 1772. After surgical studies between 1790 and 1792, he successfully embraced a military career in the armies of Napoleon at different fronts and in several hospitals. In 1806 he submitted his doctoral thesis at the Special Medical School of Strasburg, Dissertation upon Pain. The same year he presented his dismissal from he imperial armies and became chief-surgeon at the St Elisabeth hospital of Antwerp where he stayed on duty until his death in 1855. Sommé wrote a lot of medical books: surgical, anatomical and physiological...

INTRODUCTION: Changes in recruitment procedures reduced early dismissal rates from Swiss military basic recruitment schools; however, such improvements were not reflected in premature discharge rates from the special forces (SF) (Grenadier) recruitment school. METHOD: A six-item questionnaire designed to identify recruits likely to be subject to premature dismissal on psychological or psychiatric grounds was developed and prospectively validated. The questionnaire was based on an analysis of medical and psychiatric/psychological records of 26 recruits dismissed from a SF recruitment school...

STUDY DESIGN: This is a population-based, cross-sectional study of school scoliosis screening program in mainland China. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess current prevalence and distribution of idiopathic scoliosis (IS) in schoolchildren and to compare with the results of previous studies. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: The feasibility and predictive values of scoliosis screening programs for school-age children remains controversial and many of these programs have recently been discontinued in different countries...

BACKGROUND: Non-specific low back pain is a prevalent symptom in adolescents and is recurrent in some instances. Recent studies have highlighted the marked impact the condition has on daily life of adolescents. However, it is unclear if parents of adolescents reporting recurrent non-specific low back pain know about their child's status. The purpose of the study was to determine the level of agreement between adolescents and their parents in reporting recurrent non-specific low back pain in Harare, Zimbabwe...

Tenure has been the dominant influence on systems of academic promotion and remains important in medical schools, despite the growing prevalence of non-tenure academic tracks. Although the number of clinician faculty members currently choosing tenure track has dropped dramatically, tenure may be an appropriate career path for individuals, and understanding tenure can help all faculty members navigate promotion systems. National trends show medical schools making modest adjustments to allow greater flexibility in tenure policies especially concerning the probationary period and the availability of tenure for part-time faculty members...

August Hirt (1898-1945) has achieved macabre renown for atrocities perpetrated during his years as professor of anatomy at the Reichsuniversität Straßburg 1941-1945. Little, however, is known about his preceding scientific career. To fill this gap and to scrutinise whether he really was a mediocre scientist during his early years, as some have purported, we perused relevant historical archives and the available literature. In 1921, after medical school, Hirt started to research and teach at the Institute of Anatomy in Heidelberg, forging a steady career until becoming interim chair in 1935...

This paper evaluates the real-world effectiveness of an emotion-focused, multi-systemic early intervention combining an emotion socialization parenting program with a child and school socio-emotional intervention for children with emerging conduct problems. Schools in lower socioeconomic areas of Victoria, Australia were randomized into intervention or wait-list control. Children in the first 4 years of elementary school were screened for behavior problems and those in the top 8 % of severity were invited to participate in the intervention...